Forge - Every city?

[Krumly Lu Wopa]

I build them in almost every city. It would be a rare exception not to have one. And I get the ability early. Playing the Greeks (always), my 1st priority is bronze. But after I got that, I take a direct path to the forge (metal casting?). I am always the 1st civ. with it. It takes a long time, but well worth it. Even if it was an Island city, with only seafood and water tiles to work, I build a forge. On a one square island city, I buid a granary 1st then a forge. Slave it for both. The city needs some production, so the engineer provides that.

For the larger cities, I want Great engineers. I always play for a cultural victory, and I need those wonders.

 

[Iranon]

A happiness building that boosts production and gives me a fairly useful engineer slot? Is this a trick question?

Often the first thing to be built after granaries.

 

[King Flevance]

I also voted yes. However, for me, the city must generate at least 8 hammers naturally, or else I do not give it one. But most cities can generate well over 8 hammers a turn.
Otherwise the only reason a city this low usually gets one is for the happiness it generates as Morgrad stated.

 

[krille]

Early on, I only put Forges in my Production and Whipping cities. (Most cities.) Later on, in all cities.

 

[Infantry#14]

yes, eventually all my cities have forges, even if a few cities are coastal islands with 1 hammer (the center spot). By the time I get corporation, I can get the city from 1 measly hammer to at least 10+ after mining corp is spread in this city. After factory and coal plant, this city can do just fine on its own.

 

[magicalsushi]

Has anyone mentioned that forges increase the benefit from whipping? I usually use slavery to build most of my infrastructure, and with organized religion and forges whipping becomes pretty effective.

Chopping, too. They're often worthwhile even in cities with <8 production, if you have plenty of food or forests to abuse.

 

[King of Town]

I can't say I build them in every city. I do follow the 8 hammer rule. It just takes forever to build them if I don't. I don't find a whole lot of those cities usually though to be honest, unless I am building a city just to grab a specific resource.

 

[zyphyr]

To me the question isn't "Will I build a Forge?" it is "When will I build a Forge?"

 

[brianb1974]

Sooner or later, I'll build a forge in almost every city. Usually it's sooner. Most of my cities get their initial infrastructure via chopping and whipping. If you chop/whip the forge first, the bonus applies to subsequent whips/chops. So if I'm industrious, it's almost always forge first. If I'm not, I may well go for a granary first because it can be chopped sooner and lets you grow big enough to whip the forge faster than if you whipped the forge first. In a seafood city, I might even rush a lighthouse first. But generally it's the forge first. Especially late game when I'm paying cash. The forge makes the subsequent buys cheaper.

 

[Trackman20]

Pardon my ignorance.

Please explain "Whip" and "Chop" for me.

 

[bhavv]

Pardon my ignorance.

Please explain "Whip" and "Chop" for me.

Whip = using Slavery to sacrifice population to build things

Chop = Chopping forests for

 

[Trackman20]

That's what I was thinking, but wanted to verify.

It's like Ronald Reagan used to say...."Trust....but verify"

 

[ZeroM]

That's what I was thinking, but wanted to verify.

It's like Ronald Reagan used to say...."Trust....but verify"

"Well, there you go again". Don't forests add a health and or happiness factor to nearby cities? or is taking the hammers a better bang for the buck?

 

[CivMcNut]

Forge, granary, and courthouse in every city. Forges save the number of turns to build anything and make your people happy if you have the right resources. Even on cities with very few hammers you add that engineer slot and that gives you +2 hammers so you can get something done. A city without production is just contributing science and gold to your empire.

Getting forges up early in most cities can give you a significant boost in some war production for the early middle ages that can be leveraged to big advantage.

 

[BurN]

To me the question isn't "Will I build a Forge?" it is "When will I build a Forge?"

QTF

I build a forge in every city eventually (late game). But I voted no, only prod cities. Commerce cities usually have low prod anyways so 25% does close to nothing. You're better off building science/gold buildings imho. (unless you need the forge for happiness)

 

[BrantleyL1]

"Well, there you go again". Don't forests add a health and or happiness factor to nearby cities? or is taking the hammers a better bang for the buck?

That, plus whatever you put on the plot is probably better than the health and happiness. You need food to grow the city, commerce to grow your civilization & on-going hammers to build things faster.

Of course, you can build a national park in ONE city. It helps if you have a lot of forrests nearby, but I have not exactly figured out what the value of a national park is.

Chopping down the forrests is really useful in the early game. The extra hammers go right to whatever you are building. Use that + whipping and with the right location, you can really crank out a few early things....